Splash block



NOV. 23, 1943. LUFF 2,334,779

SPLASH BLOCK Filed July 28, 1941 INVENTOR. BY ar/ T ym Q6 ATTORNEY.

e g y Furtherobjects of splash block taken a ng the line.

splash block and more particularly a.:prefo1iniedi v v It is conventionalfpractice; to; provide: some:

means; usually ter 1ned: a: fsnlash block, .to re 2.

QQiVe the; rain wateryissuing-ifrom each; down? wa 1.7111. .Aidng the. sides-f bottom'wall {th thesheet metal is bent?- up at; an .angleato iform side walls Hand l3: It will benotedy that theseside walls are bent along lines diverging from the'cem terE-line as 1 the outlet is ;approachedia-Further $1 0 1 of bu ldin j 't fi fst. and to oarrythis! water away from the foundation to a point @where itr:will,

cause no injury. ;Such a splashnbloolgris convene,

tionally made, of: concrete and is :IIIOldedfinj'the desired position The; difficulty'ywith'this -;con-,- vention'stl type, of splash block is that the: blocl'zf not only requires considerablejlabor to make: but

tan'o'liroinzitheyidutertendli hfthew conduit l3;

does not stay in the desired position due to the, 7'

settling of the'gr0und.' .Such splash blocks are usually laid just afterthe building is Completed; and on soil which has only recently been f fille dc in around theffoundatiom jIn manycases, the;

resultant Settli -causes the splash: blochto chan e inposition so much as-to deflect thewater towards the building instead, of away frornaita Furthermore, such; blocks eyentuallysoften be-; 9

come cracked, necessitating their replacement; rt 1 An object of the present, invention is'to provide: a preiormedsplash, block of metalwhichha's- I means to enable the splash block-to be easily :se-

cured tothe groundbg,

A iurther objectoi the present intention It provide such 'a splash block in which thestrearn of water diverges as it approaches theloutlet'of: the splash y-block so that thegissuing streamtis? rea overa elatiyely wide-area. w r

c A sfurther object of the invention isjto fpm the formfof a.-triangle"sdthatgthetllvidtheof the. wall, decreases towards-the outlet. These -;trian-= gular' walls l2 .and fl3,;itwill .be noted, do not ex tend all the way to the outlet bu'thntirely dis-y appear atpoints; Huan'd l5srspacdiarsho'rt dis- Yu'Ihe sheet iinetal beyond the? side wall: portions I2 and :l3isbent'downwardlyto form depending:

flanges i6 and I1. These depending fiangesi'are:

again of a triangle shape converging toward the outlet sidefi Instead; however, [of t disappearing entirely :beforelthebutlet end "of the conduit is reachedfithese flanges extend the :run length of thejoonduit 'I;hein1eti endofifitheiconduit has ari i portion I81 bent uprto-iorn'i an inner end wall which :is suitably secured-11:0; thesiderwallslm Hindu l3.) '1 :1 J l '4 1--Aplura1ity of stakes 21522;23; and 25 formed of g-metal are secured-to the conduit portion 1 tier the splash block: AsQbest indicated in Figure 2 in connection with stakes; 23 andZ l, the, stakesa ed in pai cash pa f-t t kes qnstivide a splash ;b1fo'cl; in which; the up-tur'ned side: 5

walls bounding the fiuidchannel not only-,di-c verge from the ,inlet to .t1 1e outlet but also deal he en irel j pnx s r crease in depth so as to anttat; vthe outlet Qua i; aruitner object of ,th

y y A B t PW FHQ PW b'e apparentl from con 'derationjof. the acgo pahyingfspecification war s; and drawing h if'? a Figural is an'isometr iew'o'f m'yspl asho applied in position and secured to theground u 'd riis th' min q n b itig Figure. 251s ajtr'ansversesecti splash block is 7generai1y indicated Eff the 'i e'f er tutlngftih'e' t w egs. of i ver ed an .d meme ber ;6. Thus, stakes {2L and-ZZiorm theflegs oig 'one U- shaped member-and stakes 2;3; and;2 4* the e s: of. asecon shaped members 'Ifhe-horr-\ ortion 21;. of each; Uggsh'aped member 26:

i see by spotweldingor any; other suitable methodgto the, underside of the bottom wall 1 l eftheconduit .p ortionflfl, rrne flangesfli and we arje'ralso preferably secured in} a; suitable manner t0th-1liler torment: legslj and 22 and IegsZB, J n I answer the U shapjed memberslliq The u splash-blockhf sheetimetallby eit er a, t v V p a o ffprovidingzpairs ofstakes and -a-1so.reinore-;

shapedfinerribers 2t; thusserveQthedual purpose mg the'conduitport er the spiashblock V gular; iormgof 'the 's'idewalls *l2 and l3fan y; th fact-j that ith'ey' are bent-amass; 'diag0nal 'f1ine;.the side walls graaus1lyj -diyer'gef towards the outlet to increase the widthbfthe issuing stream. At the same time, they decrease 00 in depth and entirely disappear short ofthe out- I reasonuz f'Asgyrill ce-evidential; Eigureg l the splash-1 block isfsecured in' the ground. by forcing: the stakes;

tof24 inwardly untilthe' bpttomsprmne trie angular sidefianges 'l fia'ndll T'e'nlga'ge'theground.

u fferring t n: is to be no'ted that-byiasbnoi netr i a t J93- r nigjthe' do n S out his indicated by t referenceknumeral tti I he spout isjplsuitably let end so thatthe water is able to splash over the entire outlet end of the splash block. Thus,

the water instead of all being directed onto one spot and creating an excessive amount of erosion of that one spot, is spread over a relatively wide area and-is carriedofiwithout any damage to the surface on which itis directed. 7

It will be further seen that the process of inthe conduit portion 40 of the splash block. As 7 As with the previously described species, a plurality of stakes 56, 51, 58, and 59 are secured to.

with the other species, stakes 56 and 51 on the stalling the splash block is an extremely simple. one. By reason of the relatively light weight of the splash block, the splash block will not increase in. any way the tendency of the ground to settle. I the angular position of the splash block undesirably, the splash blockcan be readily pulledoutof the ground and reinserted in such a manner that itproperly-directs the flow of water. It Willi-b6 noted that the splash block in Figures-"L and-2.

ca'n be' formed by simple bending operations from standard sheet; meta-1 stock. This enabl'es theg splash bl'ocl -to -lo'e formed readily in the factoryunder i eificient production methods, thus "decreasing theamount of labor which must be pervformed at the actualibuilding site'. v. i

In Figurenrr have" shown a slightlyflmod-ified form (if-splash block. The :splash'block of Fig! ure 31is;intended.tobeiormed of lighter sheet metal andatoubezformed by a die stamping: operation.. U 'w i A conduitportion 4:9! ofthis splash. block-com-- prises a base portion 41:. which .is provided with a forward. edge 42i-which may, if desired, be curved as.- shown in 'the drawing.v Extending downwardly and forwardly from this curved forwa-rded'ge 42ris a downturned lip portion 43;

Struck upwardly from the base portion is a! continuous wall comprising side Walls 45 and and a'curved endwall 48. The depth of this wallis greatest along the curved end: Wall 48; p;- and gradually diminishes towards the outlet end :of' conduit portion 40- until the wall completely disappea s short or'the outletend. Merging with this edge"wall and'lerrtending inan inclined plan 3 is-a top wan portion 50 which: similarly is of greatest width at a point adjacent the end wall 48 and gradually diminishes in width to a"va'ni sl 1 ing pointas theoutletis approached. Extendm down'frorn the top wall 5!) is a 'fiange'.52. f

Thisffiange extends continuously; aroundjthe inlet end an si uesjor the bottomfwall 4 l fand merges with;the= lip='43- at, the outlet end. As is evident from the; drawing," thefdep th of this flange 52 is greatest at the curved inletend; and graduallydecreases' towards fthe outlet end; Q'Ifh'e' purposeofthis, as in connection with/flanges.

l6 and" l'T'of the .speciesjof Figures 1 -an d"2, is

to insure that-the jbottom' 'i is slutably inclined. when the side' flange engages the ground. .In order' to iacil'it'ate. ;the stamping operation grooves M'are'f rmedin' the curved portionv of the; side flange. 52.

p In order to-increase the rigidity ofltlhe s plash Y block ga plurality of ribs 5'5 .are.formed[in the;

base portion 4]. These ribs act tof stiffen the conduit and'jto f generally, increase its rigidity.-. Furthermore, they provide divergingphannelsto help spread outlthe stream oif water as it approaches the; outlet. Si-milar ribs iiilimaybe pro- 5 Videdadjacept the. outlet end of the b'aselportion and;extendingparallekto the forward edge 420i the' base 4 ll 7 If the ground does settle so as to change one hand and stakes '58 and 59 on the other hand each constitute two legs oiia U-shjaped member 6| the horizontal portion of which is secured to I the under side of the base 4| of the conduit section 40.'A sideflange 52 is secured to the stakes V 58 andv 59 so as to increase the rigidity of the splash block.

- The splash block of Figures 3 and 4 possesses I 'thevarious advantages set out for that of Figures land 2. In other words, it is light in weight and causes no settling of the ground. Furthermore, the position of the splash block canbe readily-changed: at any time when such a change isdesirable. All-of the work of forming is done at the factory and the only work of installation necessary isthat of forcing the stakes into the groundf" Thespl'ash block not only conveysthe wateraway from immediately beneath the down '7 I spout 'butcauses thestreamof' water to'be so spread out as to cause no damage-tothe surface whichit engages.

'WhiIeTI have shown certain specific embodiments ofmyinventionfor purposes of illustrati'on, it isto be understood" that the invention is to be limited only 'by the scope of the' a-ppendedi claims.

l. Asplash block comprisingacon'duitmernber of sheet metal having edge portions first up turned to provide side walls and then downi turned to provide outer angu-lar'side flanges;- said upturned" Walls beginning at positions adjacent the-outlet end-of the splash block; and increasing in depth. and wi'dth towards the inlet' end, said side flangesibeing of increasing depthtoWa-rds their-flet end and adapted to engage the ground" to fix the angular position of said conduit memher;- and a plurality of invertediu' -s haped' mem--" bers the upper parts of whi'chare secured tq the" bottom oflsaid conduit and the downwarjcllyje r tending-legs secured to thein'ner sides of'the said side-flanges and extending "downwardly for in I serti'on into the ground.

2.- A splash block-comprising a conduit meme ber of sheet metal having'thee'dge thereof along all but adjacent the outlet end upturned to'pro vide. insideside and end'walls; andthen'down-Q- turned to form outer angular side'fflang'es, the"- two side'sof said-upturned portion diverging toi" wards the outlet to increase the effective Width of the conduih diverging ribs form' edirrthe bot, tomfojsaidblockfitojaid in spreading the stream 1 of water and to reinforce the block; and a p1u'- l ree qm lc e y around. h 9 t x r iae ei form outersijde' flanges; and. a plurality-oidmy rality of U-shaped which are'scllred to the bottom of saidconduii.

and" the downwardly" extending regs secured. to -v the inner sides' oi thesaid side flanges an'dlex -"j.

dpwpwardly o n ertion. intof the" ground:

P a o i slblasri block rampa in a cbnd fit-iiim f berofjsheet metal. havingthelige thereot' fi'rst I upturnedflalong allbut'adjacent theioutlt, ll i to provide side and'end Walls and then down-g vert'edU-shaped members rigidly secured te ths".

under si de.of;Saidronduit withlptheleg-s fof aid I tween th j outer side flanged'ah dipointed;to

U-shaped members extending downwardly facilitate insertion in the. 'grdiind.

embers/the upper pa'rt'szof' v 

